Convos At The Gym

One of the few places I'm silent is at the gym. (If you know me, I'm very rarely silent) I'm not much of a social-gym-goer and I prefer to get in and out. However, on occasion, the occasional convo might take place. But I never ask for spotting or tips on sets.

So goes this afternoon a lady comes up to me right as I finished doing some cardio at the 24 Hr. on Van Ness in SF.

'Do You Work At YouTube? You Look Familiar.'

Her name was Kathleen, and she used to work at YouTube up until this past January. (I started in Oct. 2008, so there was a few month overlap) She was in PR and sat in a nearby cube. She's been at Scribd, a local startup in SF since February 2009. It was totally cool to chat informally for about 10 minutes or so. It totally made my afternoon, especially after getting my car towed downtown (apparently I can't read signs and need an expensive lesson).

We chatted about life at startups, moving on at work, YouTube life and general marketing talk. These are the gym convos I can get used to!

A surprising drunk call

I was chilling with Howie at his cousins (Kathleen and My Le) place in San Francisco when I got a series of phone calls from my sister.

I didn't pick up originally because I'm not a fan of talking to people in front of others. After the fourth or fifth call, I decided to pick up.

The conversation went something like this:

[picks up phone - drunk sister starts talking]

Sister: Hiiiii. What the fuck? I've been calling you.

Me: I know. I didn't pick up earlier. You got me now. What's up? Are you Drunk?

Sister: Yes. Two Things. Number 1... Shoot me an email with what you want for your birthday.

Me: Okay. Will do.

Sister: Number 2... I'm with Chris. You know how I told you I would never go to a gay bar? So he's totally cool with gay guys. [Chris' voice faint in the background: 'Ya. They're cool.'] I decided I'm going to go with you. Mom told me you're coming home soon. We're going. He's [Chris] going to be my buffer just in case anything happens.

Me: Wow. Okay...

Sister: What's that place you told me is cool?

Me: The Abbey.

Sister: We can go there. Or this gay bar in Ventura County. Paddy's.

Me: Why would I go to Ventura County? Let's go to the Abbey.

Sister: Ok. I have Halloween at Six Flags on that Friday. Saturday we're going out.

Me: Okay. Sounds good. See you later.

That was sorta random. But I'm actually really happy my sister made the effort to (1) Call Me and (2) Offer to be taken out of her comfort zone.

I never really thought I'd see the day when I'd go out with my sister to a gay bar...

Now I'm nervous...